Nail and method and apparatus for making same

ABSTRACT

Nail for use in magazine fed nailing machine having a notched head and a depending abutment on the underside of the head so that when a plurality of nails are aligned in a strip with the shank of one nail engaged in the notch of the preceding nail, the depending abutment will space the heads of adjacent nails apart in the direction of driving.

United States Patent [191 Brecht [451 Sept. 17, 1974 NAIL AND METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MAKING SAME [75] inventor: Carl T. Brecht, Cincinnati, Ohio [73] Assignee: Senco Products, Inc., Cincinnati,

Ohio

[22] Filed: Sept. 15, 1972 [21] Appl. No.: 289,487

[52] I J .S. Cl. I 206/343, 8 5/ 28 85/29 [51] Int. Cl B65d 73/02 [58] Field of Search 85/28, 29, 17; 206/56 DF [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 641,326 l/l900 Riedmiller 85/28 2,533,062 l2/l950 Spink 85/29 2,940,081 6/1960 Juilfs 85/l7 3,481,459 12/1969 Becht 85/17 Primary ExaminerEdward C. Allen Attorney, Agent, or Firm-John W. Melville; Albert E. Strasser; Stanley H. Foster 5 7 ABSTRACT Nail for use in magazine fed nailing machine having a notched head and a depending abutment on the underside of the head so that when a plurality of nails are aligned in a strip with the shank of one nail engaged in the notch of the preceding nail, the depending abutment will space the heads of adjacent nails apart in the direction of driving.

3 Claims, 9 Drawing Figures NAIL AND METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MAKING SAME BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a nail, and particularly to a nail which is adapted to be cohered together in strip form with a plurality of similar nails. Such nails in strip form are designed for use in magazine fed nailing equipment.

The art is presently aware of a variety of nails and nail strips adapted for such use. In the simplest case, a plurality of ordinary common nails may be packaged in strip form with their shanks in spaced apart parallel relationship by means of a paper or plastic web, or welded wires. These arrangements are subject to two difficulties. First of all, the shanks of adjacent nails must be spaced far enough apart to permit driving without interference between the heads of adjacent nails. This of course means that only a relatively few nails can be utilized in a given space. In addition, according to these arrangements, the heads of all of the nails in the strip lie in a common plane. This means that the magazine for the nail driving equipment must be arranged generally parallel to the surface of the work piece, and the art has found that such an arrangement makes the design of largertools which are properly balanced far more difficult.

This second disadvantage may be overcome by utilizing a plurality of nails arranged in a stepped relationship. That is, a portion of the head of a given nail will rest upon a portion of the head of a preceding nail. The magazine to accommodate such a strip will be angled upwardly somewhat from the surface of the work piece. It might also be noted that this overlapping of adjacent heads will permit a somewhat closer spacing of adjacent nails.

U.S. Pat. No. 2,940,081 in the name of Albert G. Juilfs and entitled Cohered, Full Headed Nail, teaches a nail having a head provided with a notch conforming generally to the outer contour of the shank, so that the nails may be arranged in strip form with the shanks of adjacent nails in contacting, parallel relationship, and with the head of a given nail resting on a portion of the head of a preceding nail.

The art has found it desirable to provide a magazine structure for nailing equipment which will rise upwardly from the work surface at an angle of 30 or more. This angle will facilitate the design of a well balanced and highly maneuverable tool. U.S. Pat. No. 3,152,334 in the name of H. C. Lingle, and U.S. Pat. No. 3,481,459 in the name of Carl T. Becht teach two arrangements which will result in a strip of nails having this characteristic. The Lingle patent simply arranges the nails in a stepped relationship which includes a space between the top of the head of a first nail and the bottom of the head of a succeeding nail. This arrangement requires rather complex equipment in order to package nails in this manner. The Becht patent mentioned above provides a collar immediately beneath the head of a nail, which collar will rest upon a portion of the head of a preceding nail and hence automatically accomplish the required spacing apart of the head of adjacent nails in the direction of driving.

Keeping the foregoing in mind, it is a primary object of this invention to provide a nail which may be cohered together in strip form with a plurality of similar nails with the shanks of adjacent nails in contacting, parallel relationship, and with the head of adjacent nails spaced apart in the direction of driving. It is also an object of this invention to provide a method and apparatus for making such a nail.

More specifically, it is an object of this invention to provide a nail of the type described which may be readily handled by automatic equipment during the steps of aligning and cohering together into strip form.

The main object of the method and apparatus of this invention is the provision of an arrangement for forming such a nail which will increase the speed of production and greatly prolong equipment life.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The nail of this invention, considered'broadly, includes a shank having a point at one end and a head at the other end. The head will be provided with a notch of a configuration to receive the shank of an adjacent nail. The underside of a portion of the head on the opposite side of the shank from the notch will be provided with a depending abutment. Thus, a plurality of such nails may be arranged in strip form with the shank of one nail received in the notch in the head of a preceding nail, and with the depending abutment of that nail resting on the head of the preceding nail so as to space the heads of adjacent nails apart in the direction of driving.

The apparatus of this invention contemplates a pair of die members which are arranged to move into abutting relationship to grip a length of wire therebetween. These die members have end faces against which the nail head is formed by means of a punch moving in a path generally parallel to the length of wire held between the dies. One of the end faces of one of the die members will be provided with a recess in which the depending abutment on the underside of the nail head will be formed. Cooperating means are provided between the punch and the other of the end faces of the die member so as to prevent flow of the wire into a limited area during formation of the nail head. This of course results in the formation of a notch'in the nail head.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a side elevational view showing three nails according to this invention cohered together in strip fonn.

FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view on a greatly enlarged scale along the line 2-2 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view along the line 33 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view showing one embodiment of an apparatus adapted to carry out this invention.

FIG. 5 is a cross sectional view along the line 5-5 of FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is a top plan view of the die member shown in FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is a cross sectional view showing another embodiment of apparatus for the practice of this invention.

FIG. 8 is a cross sectional view along the line 8-8 of FIG. 7.

FIG. 9 is a top plan view of the die members shown in FIG. 7.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring first to FIGS. 1 through 3, an individual nail according to this invention will be described. The nail of course is provided with a shank indicated at having a point 12 at one end and a head indicated generally at 14 at the other end. As best seen in FIG. 2, each nail head indicated generally at 14 includes a notch 16 extending from the periphery of the head to a point substantially tangent to the nail shank 10. This notch 16 is generally configured to receive the shank of another nail, so that a plurality of nails can be arranged with their shanks in contacting, parallel relationship, the shank of a given nail being received in the notch of the preceding nail.

The underside of the head of each nail is provided with a depending abutment 18. It will be observed that the depending abutment 18 is disposed on the opposite side of the shank from the notch, and is substantially tangent to the periphery of the head. When a plurality of nails are arranged as shown in FIGS. 1 through 3, it will be seen that the depending abutment 18 of a given nail will rest upon a portion of the head 14 of the preceding nail.

The precise dimensions of the depending abutment 18 are not critical. It will of course be understood that the depth or vertical dimension of the abutment 18 will determine the distance by which the heads of adjacent nails are spaced apart in the direction of driving. That is, as indicated at the outset, it is advantageous to provide a strip of nails in which a line tangent to the points of the strip of nails is at an angle of 60 or less with respect to the shanks of the nails. The greater the depth of the abutment 18, the smaller the angle will be.

While not shown in the drawings, it is of course within the scope of this invention to provide one or more flats on the shank 10 of the individual nails. As set forth in US. Pat. No. 3,481,459 referred to earlier, the provision of such flats facilitate the handling and aligning of individual nails by automatic packaging equipment.

FIGS. 4 through 6 illustrate one embodiment of an apparatus which may be used to produce the nail just described. The apparatus includes the pair of mating die members 20 and 22 which will be arranged for movement by a suitable mechanism (not shown) into contacting relationship to grip a length of wire therebetween. In the position shown in FIG. 4, a fully formed nail is indicated at 24. It will be understood that this nail is formed from a length of wire which will be gripped between the die members 20 and 22 with a predetermined length of wire extending upwardly therefrom.

The nail head is formed against the end faces 26 and 28 respectively by means of the punch 30 which will be moved in a vertical path of travel by conventional mechanism to strike the end of the wire held between the die members 20 and 22.

As best seen in FIG. 6, the die members 20 and 22 are provided with mating grooves 32 and 34 arranged to grip the length of wire therebetween.

The die member 22 includes a raised portion 36 which extends to the edge of the groove 34. The coaction of this raised portion of the die member and the punch to be described hereinafter will prevent the flow of wire during formation of the head into a limited area. In other words, to form the notch in the nail head.

The die member 20 is provided with a recess 38. This recess will be effective to form the depending abutment described earlier, and hence it will be apparent that the recess 38 must be disposed within the perimeter of the nail heads to be formed.

The punch 30 is shown in cross section in FIG. 5. It will be observed that the punch is provided with a recess 40 of the same configuration as the raised portion 36. As briefly explained earlier, the cooperation between the raised portion 36 on the end face of the die and the complementary recess 40 in the punch are effective to prevent flow of the wire during formation of a nail head into a limited area substantially tangent to the shank of the nail.

A second embodiment of apparatus for forming the nail of this invention is illustrated in FIGS. 7, 8 and 9. According to this embodiment, mating die members 50 and 52 are provided and arranged to move into contacting relationship to grip a length of wire therebetween. A fully formed nail is shown in place at 54. The die members 50 and 52 are provided with end faces 56 and 58 respectively against which the nail head is formed by the action of the punch 60.

As seen in FIG. 9, the die members 50 and 52 respectively are provided with the mating grooves 62 and 64 which receive the length of wire to be gripped by the die members.

The end face 56 of the die member 50 is provided with the recess 66 within the perimeter of the formed nail head. Flow of metal into this recess during information of the nail head will provide the depending abutment 18 on the underside of the nail head.

The die member 52 is also provided with a passage 68 which is arranged parallel and tangent to the groove 64.

It will be observed in FIGS. 7 and 8 that the punch is provided with a cylindrical, downwardly extending portion 70. The lowermost end may be chamfered as at 72 to facilitate entry into the passage 68.

In operation of the apparatus of this embodiment, a length of wire will be gripped between the die members 50 and 52 with a predetermined portion extending upwardly therefrom. The punch 60 and member 70 will be moved downwardly by conventional mechanism. The member 70 will be dimensioned so that it enters the passage 68 before the punch 60 strikes the end of the length of wire. In other words, the member 70 and aperture 68 serve to prevent flow of wire during formation of the nail head into a limited area, thereby providing a notch in the finished nail.

It is believed that the foregoing constitutes a full and complete disclosure of this invention. Numerous modifications may be made without departing from the scope and spirit of this invention. No limitations are intended except insofar as specifically set forth in the claims which follow.

I claim:

1. In a nail intended to be fully driven by a magazine fed nailing machine, and having a shank with a point at one end and a generally flat, circular head at the other end, said shank having a substantially constant cross section between said head and point, said head having a notch extending inwardly to adjacent said shank and of a configuration to receive the shank of another nail; the improvement comprising a depending abutment on 3. A plurality of nails according to claim 1 cohered together in strip form with said shank of one nail received in said notch in said head of the preceding nail, said depending abutment of said one nail resting on said head of said preceding nail whereby said heads of adjacent nails are spaced apart in the direction of driv- Y TTNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 3, 835,991 Dated September 17 197 1 invent o "CAR-L T. BECHT lt i s certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected asshqwn below:

In the Title Page lnTmediately abcve the dividing line and' beneath "United States Patent cancel "Brecht" ahd insert -Becht-.

Beneath the 'dividing'line, Column l, line 3, cancel "Brecht and insert -Be'cht-.

Signed and sealed this 3rd day of December 1.974.

(SEAL) Attest: Y

- McCOY M. GIBSON JR. Attesting Officer C. MARSHALL DANN' Commissioner of Patents USCOMM'DC -60376-P69 FORM PO-10SO (10-69) i u.s. sovznma'zur warms omc: mu o-ass-au 

1. In a nail intended to be fully driven by a magazine fed nailing machine, and having a shank with a point at one end and a generally flat, circular head at the other end, said shank having a substantially constant cross section between said head and point, said head having a notch extending inwardly to adjacent said shank and of a configuration to receive the shank of another nail; the improvement comprising a depending abutment on the underside of said head, said abutment being disposed on the opposite side of said shank from said notch, and being spaced from said shank, and being adapted to engage the head of an adjacent nail in a strip of nails to form a stepped relationship, said nail normally being fully driven.
 2. The improvement claimed in claim 1 wherein said abutment is disposed substantially tangent to the periphery of said head.
 3. A plurality of nails according to claim 1 cohered together in strip form with said shank of one nail received in said notch in said head of the preceding nail, said depending abutment of said one nail resting on said head of said preceding nail whereby said heads of adjacent nails are spaced apart in the direction of driving. 